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What is RSS?

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's a popular means of sharing content (such as news headlines, podcasts and more) without requiring you to constantly visit a Web site to see what's new. RSS feeds contain headlines and hyperlinks to longer articles, podcasts or other online content.

In order to use RSS, you need to download and install RSS feed reader software, also known as news aggregators, or register with a browser or Web site that automatically picks up RSS feeds for you. To subscribe to podcast feeds, you'll need to choose a reader that can pick up not only news headlines, but also audio/video content. Some browsers and Web sites with this functionality include:

Once you have chosen a feed reader, all you have to do is decide what content you want. As you visit Web sites, you may notice buttons that allow you to automatically add feeds to your preferred reader. Here are just a few examples of what you may see:

If you click on the button, you can subscribe to the feed. However, the method of adding a feed depends on your reader. For more information on RSS, see Wikipedia's or CNET's RSS pages.